Ryan Reaves announced his retirement on Wednesday at 39 years old, closing out 16 seasons as one of the last true enforcers in the NHL. The tributes started arriving almost immediately, and several of them came from the league’s biggest names.
Reaves played 962 regular-season games across seven organizations, starting with the St. Louis Blues, who took him in the fifth round in 2005, and finishing with the San Jose Sharks. The scoresheet never told his story – he finished with 66 goals and 140 points, never reached double-digit goals in a season and averaged just 8:43 of ice time per game.
Ryan Reaves retires
What he did do was hit people. His 3,225 career hits rank among the most in the era the statistic has been tracked, including a career-high 316 in 2019-20, and he racked up more than 1,100 penalty minutes along the way.
The Winnipeg native announced the decision in an Instagram post that acknowledged what the job had cost him.
“Unfortunately, Father Time remains undefeated. Every hit, every fight – it’s taken its final toll on me. I love this sport more than almost anything in this world,” Ryan Reaves wrote. “Today, I retire from the sport I’ve loved since I was 5 years old. It was a hell of a ride.”
He signed off exactly the way anyone who watched him would expect.
“You can rest easy knowing the corners are a little safer today. Mic drop, gloves drop. Reavo out,” Reaves wrote.
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The comment section filled up quickly with current and former stars, several of them former teammates from his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Happy retirement legend,” Mitch Marner wrote.
“Love you brother. What a career,” Max Domi added.
“Hell of a run my dog!” Auston Matthews posted.
“Congrats Reavo. What a run! Big up,” P.K. Subban wrote.
Ryan Reaves also leaves behind a piece of NHL history on his way out. He was one of the last players in the league to skate without a visor, and his retirement leaves only three: Nashville’s Ryan O’Reilly, Dallas’ Jamie Benn and Minnesota’s Zach Bogosian.
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